DISEASE OUTBREAK

Stay ahead of the outbreak curve

Beacon can help detect and monitor disease outbreaks before they become epidemics.

Prehospital emergency care serves as the frontline defense for any public health system.

CHOLERA

In cases of severe cholera, patients can die in as little as four hours. Without reliable access to basic care and transport, the majority of preventable cholera deaths will occur before patients arrive at the hospital.

EBOLA

Photo by Frederick A. Murphy for the CDC

The West African Ebola outbreak was a prime example of what happens when local communities have no centralized way to report suspected outbreak cases, leaving contagious patients to go untracked until they reach the hospital, infecting untold others along the way.

Prehospital reporting lets public health officials identify disease outbreaks earlier. In the wealthiest countries, communities can easily call a universal number like 911 to report acute disease symptoms, spurring the healthcare system into action: Patients with critical conditions are located and transported to a proper facility for diagnosis and treatment, while public health officials investigate the source of the infection to determine the need for further interventions. However, in communities without adequate prehospital care, this kind of disease monitoring and detection is limited.

Fortunately, Beacon’s text message-based reporting can decrease the time needed to detect and identify outbreaks, starting at the point of contact. Beacon both increases the chances of a patient encounter with the the healthcare system while also gathering critical information about disease patterns as soon as they are reported.

HOW IT WORKS

OUTBREAK SURVEILLANCE & MONITORING

1. DETECTION

A patient with a potentially life-threatening condition is identified in the community and the local emergency access number is contacted

2. ALERT

A dispatcher takes the caller’s information and sends it out through Beacon as a text message to all available and appropriate responders in the community.

3. DISPATCH

Beacon selects the nearest and most appropriate responders among those who reply, according to pre-determined selection criteria set by the dispatcher.

4. TRIAGE

The patient’s location is relayed to confirmed responders; upon arrival on-scene, responders assess and triage the patient(s), determine the need for additional resources, and prepare for transport.

5. TRANSPORT

When the appropriate destination has been selected, advanced notification is sent to the receiving facility, indicating transport status and arrival updates.

6. MAPPING

Continuous epidemiological and logistical tracks the patient case from initial alert to hospital arrival, providing a wealth of data to decision-makes previously unavailable.

CAN BEACON HELP YOU?

Send us an email to let us know how Beacon could help your operations today.

Beacon Features:

Low-tech set-up — A single internet connected-device is required to launch

Universal accessibility — Can be used on any mobile phone, whether smartphone or feature phone, with or without internet connectivity

Easy-to-use interface — Text message interactions require minimal input, are easily followed, and are predictable; Admin and Dispatch interface is intuitive and accessible on any device

Automated control– After creating the initial alert, all resource coordination is automated, eliminating the need for dispatchers to micromanage individual resources

Low-maintenance operations — No need to download apps or worry about updates; just register the Responder’s mobile phone number and they’re ready to go

Modular architecture for easy customization — Beacon v2.0 has been re-built using a modular architecture to enable custom changes to message content and response sequence workflow

Remote access or local installation— The Beacon platform is open source and freely available. However, not everyone has software programmers on staff, so we can make Beacon available to you at a nominal cost via access to our remote servers. For installation on local servers, we’re also available to discuss more